Report: T-Mobile USA parent company planning MetroPCS buyout

Deal would give T-Mobile nearly 10 million more prepaid customers

MetroPCS Communications Inc. could soon be part of the T-Mobile USA family, according to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday.

The supervisory board for T-Mobile's German parent company, Deutsche Telekom, is reportedly scheduled to meet in Bonn, Germany on Wednesday to give its approval for the deal.

T-Mobile continues to languish as America's fourth-largest carrier with only 33.2 million customers, roughly a third of its larger rivals, Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Adding MetroPCS to the mix would increase T-Mobile USA's customer count by 9.3 million, while simultaneously bulking up the carrier's prepaid presence.

Life without Ma Bell

AT&T's efforts to acquire T-Mobile USA last year for $39 billion failed when the deal was thrown a curveball by federal regulators.

That's left the smaller carrier scrambling for survival after losing more than 10 percent (2.76 million) of its contract subscribers over the last eight consecutive quarters.

According to the report, Deutsche Telekom is said to be considering a stock-swap arrangement with MetroPCS, giving Europe's second-largest carrier control over the combined, publicly traded U.S. entity.

An announcement on the deal could come as early as Wednesday, although Deutsche Telekom representatives were not available to comment for this report.